Curing Cannabis 101

Curing is essential to the process of producing high quality cannabisheads. It's quite a simple concept however it may take a bit of care and practice to perfect it. If cannabisheads aren't properly cured then they're quality could become degraded from over drying or even worse ruined from mould.

After the cannabisheads have been hung to dry for a week or so (see also "Drying Cannabis 101") and trimmed they need to be put into air-tight containers and placed in a dry, cool, dark environment with an ambient temperature of around 20°C (68°F)as THC can be degraded from heat and light reducing the quality of the cannabisheads.

Although the cannabisheads may be fairly dry after a week or so of drying they may still contain moisture within the stems and begin to sweat.The process of "Burping" is now begun and simply means to open the air tight container where the cannabisheads are being stored for short periods of time allowing any extra moisture to escape, that may be caused from any sweating of the cannabisheads during the curing process as this can attract mould.

Burping curing
cannabisheads is a very simple process, and is done by opening the lid of the air-tight container containing the cannabisheads and allowing them to air out for
about 30 minutes once every 24 hours for
the first few days, and then once every 48 hours for the following week or so. After this burping can safely be done once a week or so until the cannabis curing process
has completed. If the container is not burped at all or often enough then the cannabisheads may become over moist, mouldy and ruined. A tell tale sign that curing cannabisheads are too moist and/or beginning to degrade in quality is a smell similar to that of fresh grass clippings or compost.

Once the burping process has been completed and no more condensation is present. The cannabisheads should be less green in colour and have developed a slightly more refined pungent aroma depending on the strain. They can now safely be sealed in air-tight containers and again kept in a dry, cool, dark environment with an ambient temperature of around 20°C (68°F). THC can degrade rapidly when exposed to temperatures above 30°C (86°F) and may be kept in a fridge to help avoid the loss of quality, and also lengthen the shelf life of stored cannabisheads.

The curing process is complete after the cannabisheads have been kept in the above mentioned state for several weeks or months. Once the cannabisheads have cured properly they will have developed a very pungent refined aroma depending on the strain. Again depending on the particular cannabisstrain they will also develop a cleaner, smoother taste and high as most of the chlorophyll and other impurities have also been removed from the cannabisheads by this stage.

Cannabis may be kept in storage within air-tight containers in a dry, cool, dark environment with an ambient temperature of around 20°C (68°F) for years without loosing too much THC through degradation. If the cannabis has been vacuum sealed there should be no further THC degradation as no oxygen is present to assist with the breakdown of THC. Light will still affect the quality so the cannabisheads must be stored within a dark environment.

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